PRETORIA – Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chief Sy Mamaobolo said he’s hoping for an 80% turnout of voters in the May election.
The IEC boss was speaking to the diplomatic corps in Pretoria on Tuesday.
At their quarterly meeting with their hosts at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the more than 100 envoys accredited to Pretoria were treated with a barrage of figures by Mamabolo.
The 2.4 million registered voters, more than a quarter of whom will be casting their ballot for the first time, will have not fewer than 299 parties to choose from.
A further 10 parties have applied for registration, so the total in the race could exceed 300.
More than 200,000 officials will be employed to staff the 22,925 polling stations.
Mamabolo says two-thirds of this staff will be recruited from the unemployed.
